Report: De los Cobos leader for Fire head coaching job

The Washington Post is reporting that former El Salvador coach [Carlos de los Cobos is the leading candidate to become the Fire's next head man](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/01/things_were_hearing_barring_la.html).

Should De los Cobos be coming to Chicago he likely wouldn't be coming alone. [Another report from the Washington Post has De los Cobos's hiring hinging (at least in part) on the Fire's ability to sign 24-year-old Salvadoran winger/forward Julio Martinez](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/01/emilio_martinez_spike_lee_iran.html). Martinez played with Mexican club Club Leon in last season's *Apertura*, scoring three goals in seven games.

Signing Martinez would add to the Fire's depth in the forward and outside midfielder areas, which have both taken hits this offseason with the departures of Chris Rolfe and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

It seems like I still haven't heard much about this guy, even though he seems to be the favorite to win the job. I've arranged a little list of questions I have for everybody about this De Los Cobos guy.
1) Will he bring some more offense to the Fire? We all know about the attacking soccer that we've been promised.
2) What skill level is this Julio Martinez on? Would he start for us?
3) Is he multiple levels above Hamlett's coaching level?
4) How good is his resume? What's his biggest success?
5) Does he speak good English? I know this will effect some of the players and they can't have any communication problems, just to avoid locker room fights.
6) Does he have a history of players liking him, or do they hate him? We need to get 'the Secret' with the Fire.
That's all, everybody let me know if you know anything. Great work, Sam.

You are hoping for KCs leftovers? We need to go in a new direction. We need a coach to demand the respect of the players by his efforts and ability. We don't need someone to know the league. Thats what Klopas is for. The new coach needs to just coach, and win trophies.

Unfortunately, it's something that has to be considered. You need your head coach to be able to communicate with all of the fan base be it directly or through the media. You also don't want anything lost in translation with your players and staff.

He's going to a Cypriot team, Apollon FC. I've written a post on the topic but I'm currently having some technical difficulties getting it up on the site. I'm hoping they'll get worked out within the next few minutes.

"Perhaps the next player to bid farewell to Jaga during the break in the competition will be Krzysztof Krol. The 23-year-old left-back was previously on trial in Italy, but none of those clubs made the transfer offer. This one came while the United States.

Chicago Fire made a proposal to take Krol on loan with an option to purchase, and we may possibly accept - said Kulesza. If Krol leaves Jagiellonia, the club management are unlikely to find anyone to take his place."